Dear Members,

Please find the below update on our upcoming 8th Annual Mid Winter Conference.

Date: Friday February 24th, 2023
Time: 11:30am to 430pm, followed by a Northern Networking Event
Location: McBride Museum
Registration:
CBA Members – Free to attend
Non-Member & Legal Professionals – $125.00/per person (food and beverages included, plus 1 drink ticket for the Networking Hour)

** Lunch, snacks and refreshments will be provided throughout the afternoon, followed by a catered Northern Networking Hour.

Our executive board and committee have been working hard behind the scenes and have secured an exciting line up of speakers for the conference this year and we are excited to have you join us.   A few among the program are highlighted below.

The Honorable Michelle O’Bonsawin will be joining us in person at the event.
The Honourable Michelle O’Bonsawin is a widely respected member of Canada’s legal community with a distinguished career spanning over 20 years.
Justice O’Bonsawin was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa in 2017. Prior to her appointment, she was General Counsel for the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group for eight years. In this role, she developed a thorough understanding of legal issues related to mental health and performed significant research regarding the use of Gladue principles in the forensic mental health system, appearing before various administrative tribunals and levels of courts, including the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Consent and Capacity Board, the Ontario Review Board, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Appeal. She began her legal career with the legal services at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was then Counsel with Canada Post, specializing in labour and employment law, human rights, and privacy law.
Justice O’Bonsawin has taught Indigenous law at the University of Ottawa’s Common Law Program and was previously responsible for the Indigenous Relations Program at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group. She is a frequent guest speaker on Gladue principles, Indigenous issues, as well as mental health, labour, and privacy law. Justice O’Bonsawin is also the author of various publications such as: Access to Justice and Gladue Reports: We All Have a Role to Play in Lawyer’s Daily (2020); A Principled Approach: Applying Gladue Principles at the Ontario Review Board in the National Judicial Institute Indigenous Law Subject Collection (2018); Canada’s Bill C-14 [NCR] A Knee Jerk Reaction to Sensationalized Not Criminally Responsible Cases in the Canadian Criminal Law Review (2016); Mental Health Checklist: A Guide for Members of the Judiciary (2016).
Justice O’Bonsawin previously served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ottawa, as well as its Executive Committee, and as a Board member for the Aboriginal Legal Services of the University of Ottawa Legal Aid Clinic. She was an observer member of the Membership Committee of Odanak First Nation and a Board member of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice.  She is currently a Partner Judge for Afghanistan Women Judges with the International Association of Women Judges.
Justice O’Bonsawin holds a Bachelor of Arts from Laurentian University, a Bachelor of Law from the University of Ottawa, a Master of Law from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Doctorate in Law from the University of Ottawa.
Born in Hanmer, Ontario, a small Francophone town near Sudbury, she now resides in Ottawa with her family. A fluently bilingual Franco-Ontarian, Justice O’Bonsawin is an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation.
She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on September 1, 2022.

Eugene Meehan, K.C.
Supreme Advocacy LLP
“Civility: Dealing with Porcupines in the Practice of Law”.
After graduating from the University of Edinburgh (LL.B.), I was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue an LL.M. at McGill University. In the Québec milieu, I (mis)treated Montréalers to French spoken with a Celtic accent. People thought I was from northern Québec … way north (some actually figured I came from Abitibi Temiscamingue). I did a second LL.B. at the University of Ottawa, and then a Doctorate in Civil Law back at McGill.
A teaching opportunity drew me to Edmonton where I was a Law Professor at the University of Alberta. During eight years in Western Canada, I also articled and practised law in Edmonton (Parlee McLaws LLP, as it now is). After that, Law Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Ottawa, when Chief Justice Lamer asked me to be his (first) Executive Legal Officer. Following my time at the Supreme Court, I left academia and joined a national law firm. For over 25 years I have practised appellate law and since 2012 I have had the pleasure to do so at a boutique law firm.                                                             

Pamela Muir
What is Yukon’s Constitutional Status and Why Does it Matter?
Pamela Muir worked for nearly 30 years in various roles with the Yukon Government. Following articles in 1992, she spent several years as counsel providing advice on the negotiation and implementation of First Nations’ land claim treaties and self-government agreements. From 1999 to 2002, she was counsel on the negotiation and implementation of the devolution of natural resources programs from the federal to the territorial government. Following this, Pamela joined the legislative counsel office. In 2014, she moved from her position as chief legislative counsel to the Executive Council Office as an assistant deputy minister. From 2018 to 2021 she was the Public Service Commissioner. Pamela retired from government in 2021 and continues to do some legislative drafting work in private practice.
Pamela holds a Master of Law degree from the University of Edinburgh, a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University.

A full detailed program and itinerary will be provided shortly, we appreciate your patience while we are working though the final schedule details.

To register, please email Riley Denneny at cbayukon@cba.org with your FULL NAME and any specific food allergies or aversions. 

Payment can be made to CBA-Yukon and coordinated via email with Riley Denneny.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out via email or by telephone at 778-686-4831.

Kind Regards,

Riley Denneny
Executive Director
Yukon Branch
Canadian Bar Association
(778) 686-4831
cbayukon@cba.org | yt-cba.org